summary book for EM rotation?

5+ Year Member

I apologize in advance if this question is an FAQ... (I didn't see it in the sticky though).

I am about to start a few away rotations in EM that I am really excited about. I want to do well and have been attempting to read up on how to do that. I saw a suggestion that in order to get a good knowledge base I ought to read an EM textbook like Tintinalli before the rotation starts. However, I'm taking step 2 in a few days and then will only have the weekend to look something over before starting the rotation. Are there any summary/pocket books I could use on the rotation and the weekend before to brush up?

I have a copy of 'Emergency Medicine Secrets' I was using on my third year rotation a few months ago, but I didn't find it very helpful.

7+ Year Member

First aid recommends the NMS clinical manual for Emergency Medicine. I got it and I like it (it has ACLS and diagnosis/history/pe/treatment/discharge for each disease emergency by organ system or type), but I haven't started my rotation yet. Hopefully, we can get some feedback on this text from more experienced folks.

allylz said:

Hello there!

I apologize in advance if this question is an FAQ... (I didn't see it in the sticky though).

I am about to start a few away rotations in EM that I am really excited about. I want to do well and have been attempting to read up on how to do that. I saw a suggestion that in order to get a good knowledge base I ought to read an EM textbook like Tintinalli before the rotation starts. However, I'm taking step 2 in a few days and then will only have the weekend to look something over before starting the rotation. Are there any summary/pocket books I could use on the rotation and the weekend before to brush up?

I have a copy of 'Emergency Medicine Secrets' I was using on my third year rotation a few months ago, but I didn't find it very helpful.

Click to expand...

Snarf!

Stop hovering to collapse...Click to collapse...Hover to expand...Click to expand...

5+ Year Member

Honestly, use Tintinalli as a reference during your rotation for interesting things, but don't even try to read it prior to a rotation. It's just way too big and the yield will not be that high. During my fourth year clerkship I used Pocket EM, I thought it was a great book and I still use it occassional during my intern year. It has a breakdown by CC, the way a patient would present.
When you pick up a patient, I don't think anyone is going to expect you to rush and form a DDx with a plan right away. You'll have time to look up some quick things. I think to do well in your rotation, it is more important to do each patient well and not and try to pick up too many patients. I've seen some med students try and carry too many patients in the hopes it will look better, but often it ends up that the student does not know much about each patient. The ones who really know their patients and do a thorough job for each one, no matter how "slow" they go usually do better in terms of learning. Hope this helps. Best thing is to just get your feet wet and do many procedures as you can, pick up bread-n-butter patients (i.e. CP, SOB, ab pain, etc) to learn, and don't step on anyone's toe (i.e. grabbing all the procedures from other students. Good-luck!

allylz said:

Hello there!

I apologize in advance if this question is an FAQ... (I didn't see it in the sticky though).

I am about to start a few away rotations in EM that I am really excited about. I want to do well and have been attempting to read up on how to do that. I saw a suggestion that in order to get a good knowledge base I ought to read an EM textbook like Tintinalli before the rotation starts. However, I'm taking step 2 in a few days and then will only have the weekend to look something over before starting the rotation. Are there any summary/pocket books I could use on the rotation and the weekend before to brush up?

I have a copy of 'Emergency Medicine Secrets' I was using on my third year rotation a few months ago, but I didn't find it very helpful.

5+ Year Member

Honestly, use Tintinalli as a reference during your rotation for interesting things, but don't even try to read it prior to a rotation. It's just way too big and the yield will not be that high. During my fourth year clerkship I used Pocket EM, I thought it was a great book and I still use it occassional during my intern year. It has a breakdown by CC, the way a patient would present.
When you pick up a patient, I don't think anyone is going to expect you to rush and form a DDx with a plan right away. You'll have time to look up some quick things. I think to do well in your rotation, it is more important to do each patient well and not and try to pick up too many patients. I've seen some med students try and carry too many patients in the hopes it will look better, but often it ends up that the student does not know much about each patient. The ones who really know their patients and do a thorough job for each one, no matter how "slow" they go usually do better in terms of learning. Hope this helps. Best thing is to just get your feet wet and do many procedures as you can, pick up bread-n-butter patients (i.e. CP, SOB, ab pain, etc) to learn, and don't step on anyone's toe (i.e. grabbing all the procedures from other students. Good-luck!

I picked up Case Files Emergency Medicine. The Case Files series helped me get through all my third year rotations, I figure it will be good for EM as well..

On a side note, I see the OP has 'Pennsyltucky' as his state. I thought only my family said that but maybe that word is used more widely than I thought. My dad and all of his family is from PA and much of my family is still up there. I was born and raised in Texas but have the admit that the summers in PA are beautiful!

Emergency Medicine

Stop hovering to collapse...Click to collapse...Hover to expand...Click to expand...

About Us

We’ve been on the Internet for over 20 years doing just one thing: providing career information for free or at cost. We do this because we believe that the health education process is too expensive and too competitive.

We believe that all students deserve the same access to high quality information. We believe that providing high quality career advice and information ensures that everyone, regardless of income or privilege, has a chance to achieve their dream of being a doctor.

SDN is published by CRG, a nonprofit educational organization. We’re dedicated to our mission to help you.